Tag: ecosan

new GTZ ecosan newsletter published

gtz-ecosan-nl31As admin and co-editor of the GTZ ecosan newsletter – a quarterly newsletter on ecological and sustainable sanitation – I am pleased to announce the publication of the latest edition no. 31 from April 2009.

The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) recently introduced a new newsletter mailing tool which enables the ecosan program within GTZ to refocus on the actual content of each newsletter and at the same time highlight some sustainable sanitation projects that are partly funded by the German government and other donors.

The newsletter is available for download as a PDF file (0,4 MB) and may be subscribed to on this page (which also offers other interesting GTZ newsletters). An archive of previous editions is also available on the (relaunched) website of the GTZ ecosan program.

RUAF magazine with special focus on productive sanitation

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The new issue of the RUAF Urban Agriculture Magazine “Water in Agriculture” features a special section on reuse-oriented or productive sanitation systems.

Productive sanitation stands for closing the nutrient loop between sanitation and agriculture to achieve higher agricultural production and improved food security.

The RUAF Magazines can be downloaded here: http://www.ruaf.org/node/101

Issue 20 features among other interesting articles:

  • Page 38: Productive Sanitation: Increasing food security by reusing treated excreta and greywater in agriculture by Robert Gensch
  • Page 41: Ecosan Fertilizers with Potential to Increase Yields in West Africa by Linus Dagerskog, Simeon Kenfack and Hakan Jönsson
  • Page 44: Reuse of Ecological Sanitation Products in Urban Agriculture: Experiences from the Philippines by Robert Holmer and Gina Itchon

Ecosan Waterless Toilet System

Currently, the pursuit towards sanitation is one of the pressing issues around the world.

Have you ever come to a point where you are challenged with the recent issues on sanitation in the world? Have you ever asked yourself questions like: “How have I contributed to sanitation problems today?; How can I contribute in solving sanitation problems?; Am I an enemy of sanitation? ” Or perhaps you probably had ask more questions than me…

So much for that, I just want to share one video I found on the internet about Ecosan Waterless Toilets:

new toilet facilities at Muyogoro Primary School, Rwanda

Alexandra from Rwanda Village Concept Project (Rwanda VCP) wrote in the other day to inform us of an ecosan toilet that Rwanda VCP built at Muyogoro primary school in Rwanda earlier this year:

“From our work on malaria education in the village of Mpungwe and Muyogoro Primary School, we have noted that the current level of hygiene constitutes a significant danger to public health. We are providing adequate sanitation facilities for children through ecosan toilet construction at their primary schools after seeing that the existing ones can be a danger to the children health and the environment. (…) On Monday, December 17 2007, the construction started at Muyogoro primary school, located in Huye District, Nyakagezi subsector. This construction has been realised in partnership between RVCP, 2 International Participants and BVDA.”


click here to view the complete gallery

The Rwanda Village Concept Project is an international student-run project in Central Africa. This multidisciplinary development project was initiated in 1998 whereas the fieldwork started in 2002. Its aims are to improve the living standards in a Rwandan community by using simple and low cost methods and to develop the capabilties of students in participatory development work.

Dominik of pong.li was invited to cover the construction process with his camera and created these wonderful videos (full playlist on YouTube):

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“People in this area just came together to build that public infrastructure…”

use a toilet and get paid

Have you ever used a toilet and got paid afterwards?

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in India has just claimed to be doing this. From January 15th 2008 onwards, users of a local toilet system based on ecological sanitation (ecosan) principles will be paid the sum of 10 paise* for each visit.

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By doing this, the Society for Community Organization and Peoples Education (SCOPE) wants to create an awareness for the value of human waste: “urine and faeces are so rich in nutrients for farm production that they are worth buying”.

The first Ecosan Community Compost Toilet in the country in Saliyar Street is functioning for the past 18 months. Every fortnight on an average 250 liters of urine is collected, the same is used for farming purposes. Already the Tamilnadu Agricultural University is studying the use of urine as liquid fertilizer for the past one year, under an MoU signed by SCOPE with the University. WASTE of Netherlands has funded, Rs. 4 lakhs for the two-year research project. (src)

Apparently, this really is the first time anywhere in the world that toilet users are being paid. What a smart approach!

* 100 paise = 1 Indian rupee = 0,01774 EUR